CHOOSING A CHEMICAL

Given all the above, we find that many industrial customers balance the safety and expense, and end up using either muriatic acid (18 % hydrochloric acid) or 25 % sodium hydroxide. Customers with trained personnel often opt for concentrated sulfuric acid or 50 % sodium hydroxide. There are exceptions, of course. Some customers are already using an acid or caustic in their plant. Using the same chemical for their pH system has allowed them to buy in bulk and lower their overall cost. One customer, an apple packer, chose to buy a larger pump and use citric acid to lower their pH. The higher pump expense was easily offset by the deal they got for citric acid from their local apple juice producer. Another customer, in the agriculture business, located a plater with a waste sulfuric acid that he uses as a soil conditioner, in conjunction with irrigation water for fruit orchards. We've even had a few fortunate customers whose process chemistry produces both acid and caustic wastes. They store these wastewaters and use them to neutralize each other, with little or no additional chemical.

Whichever chemical, or chemicals, you choose to use for your pH treatment system, you can use the formulas or calculator given in Jar Testing Made Easy to size your chemical pump(s). To select the correct pump, please refer to Basic Chemical Pump Questions and Basic pH System Questions. Then talk to us, one way or another.